Folding chair



Jan. 3, 1956 s. VOLNEY 2,729,276

FOLDING CHAIR Filed April 12. 1949 yak/MM,

Arroeufr United States Patent FOLDING CHAIR Svata Volney, Long Island City, N. Y. Application April 12, 1949, Serial No. 86,878 3 Claims. (01. 155-148) This invention relates to a chair, and has for an object to provide chair construction which may be easily set up for use, which, when so set up will be rigid and strong in construction. A secondary object of this invention is to provide a chair so constructed that it can be folded and nestled in a small space for convenience in carrying. A third object is to provide a construction which, after use can be folded and packed into a selfcontained carrying case.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and an arrangement of parts as will be more fully disclosed in connection with the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of the chair in open position, with parts partly broken away;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the chair in partly open position, with parts partly broken away;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the carrying case in closed position;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the chair in normal open position.

This invention relates more particularly to a chair which may be easily carried from place to place in collapsed condition for use both indoors and outdoors, especially in places with a limited amount of space. It may be quickly set up for use and easily folded into small space for transportation. The structure includes two pairs of legs, a back-rest and seat which are so constructed as to form a carrying case for the legs when folded.

As may be seen in the drawings, the chair has a seat plate provided with depending side flanges 11 and 12, a front flange 13 and a rear flange 14, forming an open casing with the seat plate, and a back rest 15 provided with a rearwardly extending flange 16 about the top and the sides of the backrest and having flat members 17 extending rearwardly from the lower ends of flange 16, which extends a short distance below back rest 15. The flat members 17 are provided, adjacent their ends, with openings through which the back rest is pivotally mounted on the side flanges 11 and 12 of seat plate 10.

Front legs 18 and 19 are mounted on the inner sides of flanges 11 and 12 by pivot means 20 and 21, respectively, and rear legs 22 and 23 are similarly mounted on the inner sides of the same flanges by pivot means 24. In order that the two pairs of legs may fold into the seat casing member, front legs 18 and 19 are spaced apart from the flange members 11 and 12 by suitable spacers 20' and 21 about the pivot means. Front legs 18 and 19 are connected adjacent their lower ends by bross bar 26, and rear legs 22 and 23 are similarly connected by cross bar 27. The inner surfaces of the lower edges of flanges 13 and 14 engage the adjacent sides of legs 18 and 19, 22 and 23, to limit the angular movement of the legs and to retain them in the normal open position.

Each front leg is connected with the opposite rear leg by bracing members, including flat links 28 and 29, which are pivotally mounted on the respective front legs 2 18 and 19, and similar flat links 30 and 31 which are pivotally mounted on the respective rear legs 22 and 23. At their junctions, flat links 28 and 30, and flat links 31 and 29 are pivotally mounted on tie bar 32. Links 30 and 31 are provided with stop portions 48 and 49 respectively adapted to engage with links 28 and 29, respectively, when the chair is in the normal open position.

Positioning member 33 is pivotally connected at 34 with link member 28 and at 35 with the inner side of flange member 11. In a similar manner, positioning member 36 is pivotally connected at 37 with link member 29 and at 38 with the inner side of flange member 12. Positioning members 33 and 36 are connected with the respective links 28 and 29 at approximately their midpoints for a reason that will become apparent later.

Links 39 and 40 are pivotally mounted at 41 and 42 on the inner sides of flanges 11 and 12, respectively, at points close to the rear flange 14. At their lower ends, links 39 and 40 are connected by a tie bar 43. Also, pivotally mounted on the tie bar 43 are bracing members 44 and 45. Each bracing bar has a stop member 46 at its outer end adapted to engage with the link 39 or 40 and an open-end slot 47 at the lower end adapted to engage with tie bar 32. A coil spring 52 is attached at 53 to the inside of front flange 13 of the seat and to tie bar 32 as shown.

Conventional spring actuated pins 50, mounted in plates 51 on the inner sides of flanges 11 and 12 pass through the flanges and are received by openings 54 in flat members 17 of the back rest. These spring actuated pins acting in cooperation with the openings 54 hold the back rest in the normal open position.

A suitable handle 55, shown in Fig. 3, is provided for easy handling when transporting the chair.

When the chair is to be opened, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, first rear legs 22 and 23 and then front legs 18 and 19 are moved away from seat plate 10 until links 28 and 30 and links 29 and 31 extend in substantially straight lines and the legs bring up against the inner surfaces of the lower edges of the front and rear flanges. The positioning members 33 and 36 then extend downwardly, as shown in Fig. l, and tend to hold the links 28 and 29 down and thus keep the chair in the open position. Stop portions 48 and 49 prevent links 28 and 30 and links 31 and 29 from continuing to move downwardly and thus collapsing the chair. Bracing members 44 and 45 also serve to keep the chair in the open position. These bracing members are swung on their pivotal mounting until slots 47 engage tie bar 32. Stop members 46 keep the bracing bars from continuing to move downwardly and thus collapsing the chair. The spring 52 exerts a tension through tie bar 32 on bracing members 44 and 45 and thus holds the tie bar firmly in the end slots 47.

When the chair is to be closed, bracing members 44 and 45 are swung to disengage end slots 47 from tie bar 32, and the legs are turned inwardly, as best shown in Fig. 2. The front legs are turned about their pivotal mountings until they are completely within the casing formed by the seat plate and the flanges, and then the rear legs are folded into the casing. The back rest is disengaged from the spring actuated pins 50 and is turned on its pivots until it forms a cover for the casing, as shown in Fig. 3. The chair may be conveniently carried in this closed position by means of handle 55.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim the following:

1. A folding chair comprising in combination a seat including a seat plate and a supporting frame; said supporting frame including a front and a rear flange and two side flanges forming an open casing withsai'd seat plate; a backrest; a joint connecting said backrest to said seat; said backrest swingable around the rear flange to cover the casing; releasable locking means holding the backrest in operative position relative to the seat; a pair of rear legs pivotally attached to the seat within the casing near the rear flange; a pair of front legs pivotally attached to the seat within the casing near the front flange; said legs adapted to fit into the casing when folded substantially parallel to the side flanges; and releasable locking means for the two pairs of legs adapted to hold the same in operative position and when released to permit their folding into the casing.

2. A folding chair comprising in combination a seat including a. seat plate and a supporting frame therefor; said supporting frame including a front and a rear fiange and two side flanges forming an open casing with said seat plate; a backrest; a joint connecting said backrest to said seat; said backrest swingable around the rear flange to cover the casing; releasable locking means holding the backrest in operative position relative to the seat; a pair of rear legs pivotally attached to the seat within the cas.- ing. near the rear flange; a pair of front legs pivotally attached to the seat within the casing near the front flange; said legs adapted to fit into the casing when folded substantially parallel to the side flanges; and releasable bracing means connecting each front leg with the opposite fear legysaid braking means adapted to hold the legs in operative position and when released to permit their folding into the casing.

3. A folding chair as defined in claim 2, wherein said releasable bracing means includes foldable linkages having a first member connectedto a front leg and a second member pivotally connected to the opposite rear leg, stop means limiting the downward movement of said link members, a positioning member pivotally connected at one end to a side flange and at the other end to said first link member, a tie bar connecting said releasable bracing means, and releasable means adapted to engage said tie bar and to maintain said linkage in opened position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 383,255 Spaet May 22, 1888 897,737 Goodrich Sept. 1, 1908 1,118,530 Clay Nov. 24', 1914 1,673,988 Nitti June 19, 1925 1,992,434 Kosanek Feb. 26, 1935 2,398,478 Valenti Apr. 16, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS 206,151 Switzerland J an. 16,v 1940 799,406 France Apr. 4, 1936 

